Forget about that pesky Miami Heat team for a moment. To date, the best Eastern Conference rivalry so far still comes down to the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic.

Their back and forth fights for the Eastern Conference title. Basketball throwing refs. Babyshovegate and, ah, now a potential Shaq sighting?

Veteran NBA reporter David Aldridge reported Tuesday night that Shaquille O’Neal was in talks to close the deal with the Boston Celtics. According to the report, Shaq will be expected to come off the bench for the first time in his NBA career to help in the absence of Kendrick Perkins, who tore his PCL and MCL during the NBA Finals last season.

Although Shaq is 38-years-old, his raw numbers last season prove he — like Brett Favre – still has something left in the tank. He averaged 12 ppg and 6.7 rpg with the Cleveland Cavaliers. And, should Shaq sign with the Celtics, he would be under the respected leadership of Doc Rivers.

Even an aged version of Shaq still provides a very intriguing storyline in what could be the final NBA season for the big guy. How befitting for Shaq to end up with a veteran franchise where he’ll have to beat up on three of his former teams, the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers, in order to (likely) face another former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, in the Finals to get another ring?

For the Magic fans, here’s a fun little nugget of information. Shaquille O’Neal has a combined 21-15 record against the Orlando Magic since leaving the franchise in 1996. Since 2004, he has gone 9-12 against the Magic.

So how do you think the potential addition of Shaq to the Boston Celtics will help or hurt the team?

Dwight Howard holds up a Dwight Howard puppet that he uses to interview himself asking questions of himself like if he was going to work on his free throws over the summer. The puppet was a gift for him, as the Orlando Magic players leave RDV Sportsplex for the summer, Orlando, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 (Roberto Gonzalez/Orlando Sentinel)

In viewers and young adults, it was the biggest Game 3 for the NBA Championship Series in 6 years and the second-highest-ever on ABC – since Game 3 of the 2004 series on 6/10/04. In addition, it was the highest-rated-ever Game 3 on ABC among Men 18-34, Men 18-49 and Teens 12-17.

Based on 3-game averages, the 2010 NBA Championship Series continues to pull the strongest results in 6 years (since 2004), its 2nd-highest-ever numbers on ABC in both Total Viewers (15.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (6.3/18). Compared to the first three games of 2009 (Lakers-Magic), The Finals is building year to year by 1.5 million viewers and by 11% in Adults 18-49 (13.8 million and 5.7/16).

Do you think the ratings would have been as high if this were a Kobe Bryant-Dwight Howard series?

Has the Orlando Magic’s young phenom national anthem singer, Gina Incandela, performed her last song at Amway Arena? Well, that is for the Magic to decide, starting tonight in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Gina Incandela, deemed the Magic’s good luck charm girl, is slated to sing the national anthem at the first round of every home game in the 2010 NBA playoffs.

But judging by the Magic’s long shot chances to win the series, it is quite possible Incandela’s storied run at Amway Arena could be over. Either way, she has been a joy to watch and I’m sure she’ll be booked for future performances at the new arena.

So what do you think, will the Magic pull out this series despite a 3-1 deficit to the Boston Celtics and survive to see little Gina sing again?